Constipation killed Elvis

Elvis Presley was killed by constipation, according to doctor who was with him when he died.

The rubber-thighed rocker died on the toilet in 1977 but the story at the time was that he died of heart failure.

Now, Doctor George Nichopoulos, who was close enough to the star to have been in the building when he died has said: "We found stool in his colon which had been there for four or five months because of the poor mobility of the bowel."

Nichopoulos said: "We didn't realise until the autopsy that his constipation was as bad,"

It's not entirely clear how the stool killed the king of rock. It's not hard to believe that straining to expel a five-month would give anyone heart failure.

Elvis' toilet troubles were known to the medical staff treating the singer. "He would get embarrassed," Nichopoulos told Fox News. "He'd have accidents onstage. He'd have to change clothes and come back because of the way we were trying to treat his constipation."

Dr. Nichopoulos said Elvis suffered from the hereditary condition, bowel paralysis. He claims an autopsy showed his colon was five to six inches in diameter. Two to three inches is more normal, apparently.

Nichopoulos, who is plugging his book The King and Doctor Nick said: "If they had done the colostomy then, he'd probably still be here."